The Colombian pianist Ana María Orduz-Espinal teaches at the University of Antioquia, in her hometown of Medellín, Colombia, and is the founder of the Pianissimo Foundation. This organisation has the mission of promoting wider access to piano studies and the career development of pianists in Colombia. In June 2024, Ana María completed an Erasmus+ Teaching Mobility at the mdw, teaching masterclasses for mdw students and giving a lecture about her foundation. Her teaching period at the mdw was a long-cherished dream for Ana María, because, as she explains, “The university is known all over the world as a centre of piano instruction, for pedagogy, and for artistic development.” Ahead of her stay in Vienna, she was already in constant communication with mdw instructor Pablo Rojas, whom she knows from joint projects and from his teaching visits in Colombia. He and other Colombian pianists who studied at the mdw piqued Ana María’s curiosity about the university.

There was great interest in her lecture on the Pianissimo Foundation, which she founded in 2013. After spending ten years in the US, where she completed her doctorate, she returned to Medellín. The impetus for initiating the foundation was her profound wish to bring about changes in music education in Colombia. She developed concert series in order to give musicians, particularly young ones, the opportunity to gain performance experience. “We organise 30 to 35 concerts a year, often in rural areas, in order to introduce a diverse image of music there”, she explains. Low-threshold, non-elitest access to music education is a key objective of the Pianissimo Foundation, as she says: “We want music education for all talented people, regardless of their social and financial status.” The annual festival of the Pianissimo Foundation has become one of the largest of its kind in South America, with the most recent edition of the event boasting 680 participants from thirteen countries. Ana María: “The festival has become a meeting place in South America for everyone who loves the piano.” Especially for teachers, the festival is an important place for exchange and further education. Ana María stresses the role of local music in the festival: “Placing the Colombian and South American repertoire in dialogue with European music is important for me, and not placing one above the other. My aim is to free art from dogmas. Music is here for everyone,” says Ana María about the guiding principles of her foundation.

Her lecture at the mdw was attended not only by students but also by mdw teachers. Ana María was especially gratified by the feedback from teachers who themselves are closely involved with musical social projects. “This is an affirmation of me and my work, and it gives me a great deal of strength to continue developing the Pianissimo Foundation,” according to the pianist.

Ana María started playing piano at the relatively late age of ten. “My parents are not musicians, but they love music,” she says. “Various kinds of music, not only classical, and they love to dance. Although they have no musical training themselves, they appreciate how musical training shapes a person and offers them tools for life. I fell in love with playing the piano, but I never thought I would become a musician. Until I was fifteen, I was convinced I would be a doctor.” As there were no expectations to constrict her, she was able to devote herself that much more passionately to the piano. After her musical training in Medellín, she completed a bachelor’s degree at the University of Memphis, a master´s degree and a doctorate in piano performance and pedagogy at the University of Iowa. She then returned home to Colombia and has since then devoted herself with great commitment to her projects. She teaches at the University of Antioquia, is a Latin American Yamaha Artist who performs internationally, and she gives masterclasses at various universities around the world. In her work with students, she wants to help them awaken their inner voice, because “music is a way of finding a path to yourself”, as she says. “Teaching means sharing, and sharing means helping others. I want to inspire musicians to discover pedagogy for themselves, to become the best teacher for themselves, and to share this with others.”

This was her first visit to Vienna, and she was excited by the passion of the mdw students: “In their playing, these young musicians seek the essence of the music, something deeper than merely the performance. I loved their spontaneity and their willingness to learn new things.” She was so taken with Vienna’s flair that she will return to the city this year for a longer period. Despite a busy schedule during her stay in June—in addition to her teaching at the mdw, she also played a concert at the Colombian embassy—she still found time to explore the city. “I spent six to seven hours every day strolling through Vienna, fascinated by the architecture, the food, and the diversity of the people.”

She is particularly appreciative of the Erasmus+ Programme, which makes it possible to experience a university like the mdw, its history, and the city of Vienna. “My experience at the mdw greatly enriched my teaching and my continuing work for the Pianissimo Foundation. Through this, all musicians and teachers associated with the foundation profit as well, and this impacts how music education in Colombia will be shaped in the future,” says Ana María with conviction.

Text: Isabella Gaisbauer